The Dark Knight (2008)

The Dark Knight Synopsis

The follow-up to the action hit "Batman Begins," "The Dark Knight" reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who reprises the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and the committed new District Attorney, Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to destroy organized crime in Gotham City for good. The triumvirate initially proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a rising criminal mastermind known as The Joker, who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces The Dark Knight ever closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Legendary Pictures, a Syncopy Production, a Christopher Nolan film, "The Dark Knight." Nolan directed the film from a screenplay written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer. Charles Roven, Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan are the producers, with Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Kevin De La Noy and Thomas Tull serving as executive producers. "The Dark Knight" is based upon characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by Bob Kane.

Six sequences of "The Dark Knight" were filmed with IMAX(R) cameras, including the opening six minutes. This marks the first time ever that a major feature film has been even partially shot using IMAX cameras, marking a revolutionary integration of the two film formats. The IMAX Experience(R) will appear in IMAX DMR (letterbox), while scenes shot with IMAX cameras on 15/70mm film will expand vertically to fill the entire IMAX screen, which can be up to eight stories tall, for an all-encompassing moviegoing experience.

The cast and crew of Batman Begins return for another shot at the early years of Bruce Wayne and the Dark Knight. Everyone that wasnít dead at the end of the last movie returns for Batmanís first face off with his most notable nemesis The Joker. Can Christopher Nolan do it again? Or perhaps more impotantly, can he keeping doing what he did right, and fix all the things he did wrong?

Nolanís no action director, and while Begins captured the style and tone Bat-fans were looking for it wasnít much to look at as an action movie. Give the guy a break, he was used to movies about memory loss, not films about karate kicking men in leather pants. My hope is that heíll have learned a thing or two during his Begins experience, and wise-up enough to toss out the shaky cam and give us some decent action sequences mixed in with all that gritty atmosphere. If The Dark Knight does that (and kills off Katie Holmes), itíll top its predecessor.

Thereís too much going right with this franchise to believe itíll go horribly wrong. Second superhero movies are almost always good. Superman 2, Spider-Man 2, X-Men 2, even Batman Returns. Itís the third where things fall apart.

Ten years ago, moviegoers were first treated to a groundbreaking new adaptation of an iconic franchise in Batman Begins. Director, Christopher Nolanís reimagining kicked off one of the most celebrated comic book film trilogies of all time. Upon the anniversary of its launch, this new supercut effectively showcases the highlights of the epic Dark Knight Trilogy.

Before Christian Bale donned the black cape and mask to become Christopher Nolanís Dark Knight, there were a bevy of actors up for the role. Josh Hartnett was apparently also in the mix, but unlike the other candidates, he made the fatal error of turning down the now iconic part.

Ever since Batmanís introduction to the world of popular culture in 1939, the brooding cave-dwelling dispatcher of disorder has managed to capture the imagination of people around the world and is undoubtedly one of the most iconic characters in history. Certainly, his influence, especially in the cinema is huge.

Today is the day when, all around the world, fireworks are ignited as people celebrate the departure of 2014 and the arrival of 2015. So it seems only appropriate that we would end our year in cinema with a bang as well:

Despite the fact that the actor has gone on to be in some incredible dramas Ė earning an Oscar for his dizzying work in David O. Russellís The Fighter -- itís likely that Bale will always be remembered for his time in the Batsuit, when he traded lines with fellow icons and reinvented how Hollywood views the modern superhero genre.

Christopher Nolan has revealed that he originally turned down a far-fetching plot for The Dark Knight from his brother during the sequelís development. But rather than feeling dejected about his refusal, Jonathan Nolan simply used it for his television series Persons Of Interest instead.

We have taken a long look back at the history of comic book movies and have determined the five best superhero costume upgrades weíve seen within single franchises. Read on to see which designs made the cut!

There are few things Hollywood movie studios do more than obsess over release dates. They are put together years in advance like a giant jigsaw puzzle. In theory, you would think every single movie would scratch and claw to get the easiest competition possible, but sometimes, the best thing a flick can do is find the biggest, most splashy entry on the calendar and position itself as counter-programming.

With The Dark Knight Trilogy Blu-ray set arriving on September 24, it's a chance not only to look back at last summer's The Dark Knight Rises, but uncover the steps for the creation of the entire trilogy of Batman films from Christopher Nolan. Yesterday we brought you the video from the Blu-ray of Christian Bale auditioning as Batman, wearing Val Kilmer's suit from Batman Forever and acting opposite Amy Adams as Rachel Dawes

As a life-long comic book and film geek with little artistic skills, Iíve always been a big advocate of fan art. Itís one thing to really enjoy something, but completely different for it to inspire a person to be creative and invent something of their own. For whatever reason, superhero movies tend to be a great source of this inspiration, artists from all around the globe illustrating their best ideas through posters and trailers, and the upcoming Batman vs. Superman film from director Zack Snyder is proving no exception.

Well we may have gotten our first look at the set, if the above photo is in fact a legitimate piece of promotional material. It was posted by the Polish Batman site Batcave.com.pl, which took some of its information from a pre-order post on the French Amazon site.

Cosplay is something we here at Cinema Blend typically pay notice to during Comic Con, but the incredible transformations of 18-year-old Emma Pickles are so accurate and striking they pulled us out of our winter doldrums. Once a shy teen, Pickles is now a Youtube sensation thanks to her talent for morphing makeup and detailed how-to tutorials. Check out a few of her movie-inspired looks and her dead-on Joker tutorial.

Goyer spoke to press during the Television Critics Association conference on behalf of Da Vinciís Demons, yet took a moment to address Man of Steel, which he says heís ďreally proudĒ of, even though working on a Superman movie ended up being far more difficult than the Batman, in Goyerís mind.

There are a lot of great elements in Skyfall. But what really sets Skyfall apart from the other entries into the Bond franchise is the glimpse we get into the psyche of the man who sits behind the mask of Bond. James Bond. And that man is Bruce Wayne

The best part about these photos is that Ledgerís is bathed in full light, allowing us to appreciate the fine details about his make up and costuming because weíre not trying to drink in the minutia while Batman is punching him in the face or throwing him around an interrogation room.

Though The Avengers hit the impressive $1.5 billion mark at the global box office today, they weren't the only superheroes to hit a major milestone over this slow holiday weekend. The Dark Knight Rises, which of course opened nearly two months after The Avengers, has now made $1 billion worldwide

as we move on from the event, and Holmes's monstrous act gets further separated from the film itself, those keeping an eye on The Dark Knight Rises can't help but notice that the movie, while massive, just can't keep pace with its predecessor. And now, finally, Warner Bros. has made the connection they've avoided for so long

Back in 1979, gravel-voiced American singer-songwriter Tom Waits was touring with his album Blue Valentine, and made a press stop on The Don Lane Show. And while this may not be the actual muse for Ledger's Joker, the similarities here are certainly eerie.

Too much hype can be the kiss of death in Hollywood, but when millions emerged from their midnight screenings, the response was almost completely positive. Buoyed by gushing fans, euphoric reviews and people who saw it three, four or even five times, The Dark Knight went on to gross more than a billion dollars.

MTV celebrated the last year's worth of movies with the annual MTV Movie Awards tonight. During the ceremony Gary Oldman, Christian Bale and Joseph Gordon-Levitt took the stage to introduce a video promoting The Dark Knight Rises. As Joseph Gordon-Levitt put it, "This summer, the story comes to an end." But every end has a beginning. In the case of this franchise, it was Batman Begins

When The Dark Knight came out in 2008, it was a legitimate phenomenon. While superhero movies had performed well up to that point, Christopher Nolan's second Batman film became a cross-over hit, as it appealed not only to the comic book/summer movie crowd, but also those who enjoy gritty, dramatic crime films.

Batman has a number of modes of transportation, among which are the Tumbler, which first appeared in Batman Begins, and the Bat-Pod, which made its excellent debut in The Dark Knight. Normally, it'd probably be fair to say it's unlikely that you might stumble upon either of these vehicles in your local city, unless you live in Gotham, but that may not be the case beginning this weekend.

Even though mash-ups have been done to death, there are still the rare few that burst through the thick layer of crap and actually impress. Today it's another Batman themed edit but instead of the traditional mash-up, this video, with voice-over from The Prestige, acts like a brand new trailer for The Dark Knight Rises as well as Christopher Nolan's trilogy as a whole.

Before a Justice League film happens, according to the site, both Superman and Green Lantern would get second, standalone features that may or may not lead into the plot of JL. Now, all of this sounds extremely tentative. And virtually everything you just read could change or, even more likely, completely fall apart.

It is baffling to me to see that the most pirated movies are the very movies that work best on the big screen. Movie piracy continues to be an issue, and based on the list of most pirated movies, those who are opting not to pay for their entertainment prefer the big blockbuster movies, Avatar topping the list with a whopping 21 million downloads.

Film critic Jim Emerson dissects the famous car chase action scene from The Dark Knight, in which The Joker interrupts a police convoy carrying Harvey Dent and causes a whole lot of mayhem on an underground highway near the Chicago River. He's not arguing that it's a bad sequence, exactly, but proves clearly that individual choices by Christopher Nolan and the editor Lee Smith break with all established filmmaking logic

I get as frustrated as anyone else when I can't get my bearings in an action scene-- for me it's the one major flaw in The Dark Knight, a movie that gives you spectacular chases with the Batmobile but often makes them impossible to see. But I'm also rankled by the condescending tone of Stork's narration, in which he throws out knee-jerk value judgments like "The only art here is the art of confusion."

After getting off to a $92 million start in just its first day of release, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Ė Part 2 was destined for big things. Or maybe I should say the biggest things. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Ė Part 2 is now the record holder for biggest opening weekend box office, of all time.

All purchases will come with all the available special features, as well as trivia games and the ability to easily post comments and responses on Facebook and Twitter. The special applications are already available, and if successful, Warner Brothers will launch a more expansive offering of movie apps throughout 2011 and beyond.

I don't just feel the need to stand up for the movies of the last decade because I believe they're as well-written and memorable as anything that's come before, but because I can come up with five more recent

You may remember that The Dark Knight came out on July 18 in 2008, and with Inception coming on July 16 this year, it's clear that the third week in July is seen as some kind of charm by Christopher Nolan and company

If you haven't already heard about it, there is an experiment currently growing in the film industry. Called "3D," filmmakers have begun using digital cameras that allows actors and actresses on screen to reach out and pickpocket the audience